Ronald Louis Smith (April 12, 1952 – January 21, 2012) was the original trumpet player and leader of the horn section for K.C. and the Sunshine Band, as well as the band’s choreographer. He was instrumental in creating the iconic dance moves that the band became known for. Initially, the group was called the Ocean Liner Band, before adopting the name K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Smith wrote and produced the 1978 disco hit "Spank" for artist Jimmy Bo Horne.
In addition to his work with the Sunshine Band, Smith arranged and performed trumpet parts for Bob Marley’s significant reggae track "Buffalo Soldier" and "Let’s Dance to the Drummer’s Beat" by Herman Kelly. He also collaborated with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound at Miami Sound Studio.
Smith, often referred to as Ronnie, was a talented horn player from Miami who spent five influential years with K.C. and the Sunshine Band. He passed away at the age of 59. Born in 1952, Smith played a key role in shaping the vibrant “Miami Sound” that propelled the Sunshine Band and artists like Gloria Estefan to fame.
His musical journey began with a trumpet salvaged from the trash by his father. Smith became a drum major, famously performing the “funky chicken” at both Edison and Jackson Senior High Schools, as noted by his son, Ron Jr. Alongside his guitarist brother, Jerome, and friend Robert Johnson, he founded the Ocean Liner Band, which served as the show band for Miami artist Betty Wright for a period.
Influenced by their Bahamian musical heritage, the Smith brothers performed with numerous artists at Miami’s T.K. Records studio. All three became original members of K.C. and the Sunshine Band, a disco and funk supergroup that toured globally throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Ron Jr. described his father as a humble man who believed that the spotlight was not for him. “He always wanted to make the people love the music. You hear the horn section dancing — that’s entertainment,” he said. In 1978, Smith released a little-known solo album titled “Party Freaks (Come On)” for Miami’s Sunshine Sounds, which was backed by the Sunshine Band, with "K.C." (Harry Casey) writing the liner notes.
A U.S. Air Force veteran, Smith lived in Miami Lakes and had been a patient at the Veterans Administration Medical Center following a violent carjacking in 2004 that left him in a coma. Despite his condition, his son reported that he responded to music and was once able to say, “I love you.” Smith passed away on January 21, 2012, and no arrests were made in connection with the incident.
Tragically, his brother Jerome also met with an untimely death, dying in a construction accident in West Palm Beach in 2000 at the age of 47. In a 1998 interview available on YouTube, Jimmy “Bo” Horne praised Smith as “the most exciting member of the Sunshine Band and a pioneer of that group,” highlighting his extraordinary ability to play high octaves and his role in forming a remarkable horn section.
The band evolved into the Sunshine Junkanoo Band before finalizing its name while signed to T.K. Records. Horne noted that the name change was influenced by the racial dynamics of the time, as a white frontman in an all-black band was more palatable to white radio.
Although Smith and K.C. had a complicated relationship, with less-than-cordial terms upon parting, the band’s co-founder and producer/arranger Richard Finch referred to Smith in an email as “an amazing musician” whose contributions to K.C. and the Sunshine Band are permanently etched in music history. Finch remarked that no one could replicate what Smith brought to the band, emphasizing his role as the vibrant heart of the horn section and choreographer, delivering pure positive energy in every performance.
Smith is survived by his son, Ron Jr., his daughter, Ronsh’ka Latara Smith, and his wife, Beverly Fountain Smith, a teacher in Miami-Dade. He received military honors during his burial at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth. An online fundraiser has been initiated by friends to assist with his final expenses at www.gofundme.com/eebfs.
